PRESERVING HISTORICAL TOWNS
PRESERVING HISTORICAL TOWNS

PRESERVING HISTORICAL TOWNS

评估保护历史城镇的火灾隐患的可达性: 中国上海郊区的案例研究

Assessing the accessibility to fire hazards in preserving historical towns: Case studies in suburban Shanghai, China

Harrison Huang a, c,Lu Li a, d and Yan Gu b

a College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
b Department of Environmental Design, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China
c Center for Balance Architecture of Zhejiang University, China
d Architectural Design & Research Institute of Zhejiang University, China

Abstract
Protecting large-scale heritage settlements from being damaged by fires has become increasingly crucial in developing areas that lack adequate legislation, emergency planning, and particularly efficient techniques. This study provides a systematic emergency assessment methodology for evaluating the accessibility of specific fire-fighting techniques to mitigate fire hazards in historical towns and examines how the integration of municipal and local fire services works. Specifically, this paper examines the accessibility of fire trucks, local fire services and the overall protection capacity. There are quantitative calculations of the obstruction degrees on main streets, the feasible moving distances of fire-fighting vehicles and firefighters at a given time, and the fire protection coverage and intensity in each town. Using these methods, this paper systematically assesses the fire resistance of three historical towns, Chuansha, Gaoqiao and Fengjing, as case studies. In contrast to previous studies focusing on the vulnerability of buildings in large historical settlements, this assessment method combines an examination of street networks and various emergency response techniques and is particularly applicable to developing areas.


Keywords:Accessibility to fire hazardsEmergency assessmentsFire-fighting techniquesHeritage protectionHistorical townsDeveloping areas